Testing and Education

Douglas J. Ford’s letter on STAR testing (May 15) brought back memories of my older son’s kindergarten days. One of his classmates was a precocious child who could do all kinds of wonderful things in math, science and reading, while our “baby” tore around the neighborhood on his Big Wheel. My husband and I were tempted to lay on the academic pressure, but we gave in to our son’s pleas--”Please, Mommy, I just want to play.” Throughout grade school, his standardized test scores were mediocre.

Today, that son is a PhD candidate in electrical engineering at Stanford University. His younger brother, similarly educated at a low-pressure, little-homework school, is a junior at Harvard.

Americans might have the “dumbest” fourth-graders in the world, but we have some of the greatest scientists, businessmen, artists, scholars, etc. Other countries, notably Japan, are studying our educational system.

In copying the educational systems of countries that put a lot of academic pressure on their youngest citizens, we’d better be careful. We might get what we ask for.

LINDA JOHNSON

Long Beach

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Re “Education System Faces a Test of Bridge-Building,” May 19:

Although I often find myself disagreeing with Richard Lee Colvin, his (and Michael Kirst’s) ideas for stemming the tide of testing in the state makes good sense. It would be great if colleges and universities and school districts were on the same page. If he will start the crusade, I’ll carry the banner.

JACK PRICE

Newport Beach